Vancl rejects rumors of 25% staff cut

09:18, November 27, 2012

Vancl, a leading Chinese online apparel retailer, initiated a 25 percent layoff since Friday due to high costs, an insider told the Global Times Monday on the condition of anonymity.

This retrenchment would involve all the company's sections but the logistics division, he said, adding that laid-off employees have to leave their positions immediately after receiving due compensation.

The company denied such layoffs, but told the Global Times Monday that some departments were indeed experiencing staff changes due to internal strategy adjustment or employees' personal reasons, which normally takes place toward the end of the year.

"As some people were dismissed, we also hired new ones. In the future, we will focus full efforts on the development of our own apparel brands on vancl.com, in an attempt to distinguish ourselves from common integrated e-commerce operators in China like tmall.com," Chen Chu, public relations director of Vancl, told the Global Times Monday.

Vancl made its name as the first company in China to create an independent apparel brand exclusively via the Internet, selling its self-owned brand online only since its launch in 2007 and targeting young consumers mainly in the 20 to 25 age range.